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E L E C T R I C A L CO N N E C T I O N

A U T UMN 2 0 17

T

here is more to running a tradie

business than simply keeping the

customer happy.

Understanding the legal complexities

around workplace relations compliance

can be confronting for many businesses.

What should you do if an employee turns

up to work under the influence of drugs or

alcohol? Is it legal for the employer to have

surveillance cameras in the workplace?

How do you define ‘appropriate’ behaviour

in the workplace? In this article, we provide

some practical advice to tradie businesses

on how to handle these and other

challenging scenarios when managing

your workforce.

“Fudge buckets! Gosh darn it,

that contractor really is the son of a

mother trucker!”

These are two sentences you are

unlikely to ever hear on a worksite in

Australia. Let’s face it – authentic blue

language is as much a part of the Aussie

site as the smoko or the mid-morning

bacon and egg roll.

Most of us swear to some extent

or another but if you are running a

business that is exactly where the

trouble can start. What is offensive

to one person is totally acceptable to

another. The devil really is in the detail.

So what’s the legal position on

swearing in the workplace? With the

newspapers regularly running stories

of the ‘political correctness gone

mad’ variety, you might be wondering if

it’s even lawful to use swear words in

the workplace these days. The truth

is, the law is a bit more subtle than

that. There is no straightforward ‘one

size fits all’ checklist of what you

can and can’t say in the workplace –

there is no Australian Standard for

appropriate language.

As an employer, you need to make

that call yourself. You need to assess

your workplace and draw a line in

the sand as to what is acceptable or

otherwise. Your organisation needs to

have a Code of Conduct which sets out

expectations around language

and behaviour.

A typical Code of Conduct should

reflect certain obligations as set out

in relevant legislation.

The Fair Work

Act 2009

and the

Work Health

and

Safety Act 2011

are ideal places to

start as they each set the groundwork

for workplace compliance under our

federal legislative framework.

However, you will be pleased to

know that traditional commonsense

also plays an important and prevailing

role when considering what we believe

to be “appropriate” or conversely,

“inappropriate” language in the

workplace. Essentially, it will come

down to what would objectively, or

ordinarily, be considered acceptable

within the peer group.

By way of example, colourful

language that may well be considered

not inappropriate on a construction

site might be considered awfully

inappropriate if it is used in a

professional services firm, such as a

law firm – although the author, having

worked in a number of robust law

offices herself, may beg to differ!

This may sound quite subjective, but

we make these kinds of calls all the

TIPS

THE JOYS OF BEING A BOSS…

Many tradies are also

employers, responsible for not

only managing the day to day

operations of their business,

but also the well-being and

safety of employees. Mills

Oakley special counsel Shelly-

Anne Brace provides guidance

on some common issues.

SWEARING LIKE A TRADIE